Talented and Gifted
by thisnewromantic
Summary: Roxas is hoping for a fresh new start at the High School For Performing and Visual Arts. Little does he know of the adventures awaiting him inside those red doors. AkuRoku, with other side pairings.


Hi, hello!

Long time no write!

Well, this here little puppy is based off the actual school that I actually attend. And my wonderful friend, whom I shall name as Ruki, has been my lovely and ever-amazing beta to this story. She's also assisted me in many of my times of need, so you should thank her for the lack of lameness.

So, basically, everything in this story is very typical of my school or would be typical of my school. It's a pretty rad school if I do say so myself. :) Lots of weirdly fantastic people.

So, without further ado, I present to thee _Talented and Gifted._

**DISCLAIMER**: We own nothing except ourselves. Which is terribly sad, because ourselves would be so much happier with the addition of other Kingdom Hearts selves. But that is not possible, so yeah.

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Axel was talking about burning down his house, Demyx was busy smashing his old sitar, Sora and Riku were off cuddling in a corner, and Namine was oblivious to the fact that she was splatter-painting everyone within a ten-foot radius.

Just another typical day at HSPVA.

Also known as the High School for Performing and Visual Arts.

Also, _also_ known as the School Where You Can Do Whatever the Hell You Want and Nobody Gives a Shit.

Unfortunately, to perfectly ordinary Roxas Sherwood, the school was an embodiment of hell itself. Such carefree, strange, _weird_ behavior was almost too much to handle on a first day.

You see, Roxas, a newly accepted sophomore, had missed out on his chance to audition his freshman year. He wasn't mentally ready, his talent wasn't ripe enough (according to his voice teacher), he had issues at home, yadda yadda yadda. But after suffering through a year at Twilight Town High, he believed himself deserving of a fresh start. So he readied up, auditioned, and got the long awaited acceptance letter 2 months later, securing him a spot in the school's vocal department.

Roxas, however, had no idea just how fresh this new start was going to be.

The first day, as all first days are, was terribly awkward. He knew absolutely no one, not even any of the people he had auditioned with! He wished he had gotten to know some of them at least… It also didn't help that it seemed like every single body in the school had another body to attack with glomps and hugs and "oh my God"s and "I missed you!"s. This was the one thing Roxas had always hated about new schools: the loneliness.

The Sherwood family had moved around constantly for the majority of Roxas' childhood, so new schools weren't a foreign thing to him, but it was always the same: no friends on the first day led to a solitary lunch in the bathroom which, in turn, led to him be frighteningly awkward for the rest of the day, undergoing it in silence. Roxas was never one to be all-up-in-your-face, but he was an only child, so it wasn't entirely his fault. He often wished he had a brother to help him through all this stuff. Going to your dad for advice all the time got real old real fast.

Still, Roxas hoped that at this new school he would somehow be saved by some beautiful hero from somewhere, but as the clock counted down to first period, that hope deflated like a balloon, and Roxas was left all by his lonesome on the staircase, being oh-so-jealous of all the happy faces below him.

He sped through the mini-orientation, scrambled to first period, got lost on his way to the vocal department (luckily, he found a very nice fellow sophomore vocalist named Olette who showed him the way), sat through _that_ orientation, and, with his newfound friend in tow, made his way to his locker to fetch his lunch.

He chatted with his brunette friend, happy to not have to eat alone yet again. When they reached the commons, however, he was more than a little surprised by the lack of lunch tables.

"Um, Olette?"

"Yes?" she responded. She was a very bright girl. Roxas, for some strange reason, felt very soothed in her presence.

"Where are the lunch tables?"

"Oh my gosh, lunch tables. I was sort of weirded out by that too my first day," she laughed. "At PVA, you just sit wherever you want. You see?" She swept her hand dramatically across the commons, as if showcasing a car.

It _was_ an interesting sight though. Some tables were set up, pulled out from the wall and set up by the kids themselves, and however many chairs were necessary were used at each one. The majority of kids, though, were roaming around the middle of the small commons, talking and dancing and doing whatever it was they did. On both the second and first stories, kids were lined up on the walls, just sitting on the floor and chilling and eating and talking and acting like it was no big deal. Even more students could be seen down the art hallway, yelling and screaming and joking as artists often do.

To someone perfectly ordinary, this was perfectly _not_ okay.

"So…you can just sit wherever? Even on the _floor_?" Roxas almost whispered. He had a hard time grasping the idea of all this organized chaos.

"Well, _duh_," Olette drawled, as if it were outrageously obvious. She laughed again at the blonde's dumbfounded expression and grabbed his wrist. "Now, come on. I hang out with a lot of theatre kids, and we always eat by the theatre lockers. And as of now, I am your designated Introducer of Friends."

"Um. Alright, then," Roxas said stupidly as he was dragged toward the back of the school.

Olette swerved through the masses of people on the first floor, cut through the theatre hallway and the art hallway (one turned onto the other at a corner) and burst through the doors at the end, tossing Roxas into one of the lockers and throwing her arms out like a ballerina at the end of her routine.

"And I," she announced, "have arrived." There were scoffs and laughs echoing in the space, and Olette joined in, dropping her arms. "And these, Roxas, are the theatre lockers. This is where we usually hang out, so here's where to report if you can't find any of us. _One_ of us ought to be back here."

Roxas surveyed the space. It really was just a bunch of lockers all together in one hallway, with a staircase leading to the second floor and what seemed to be two dressing rooms at either ends of the hall. Olette pointed out other things ("Apparently, two guys once did it behind that Coke machine" and "Damn, someone left a condom out again"), Roxas found that the _other_ big doors led to the main theatre, and Ms. Lori's costume shop was not to be touched unless invited in. Unless, of course, you wanted to be castrated on the spot.

"So, Olette, aren't you going to introduce us to your new pal?" one of the kids on the floor said. He was propped up against the locker side of the hallway, his big blue eyes excited to meet a new friend. He had chocolate brown hair that spiked up in all directions, not unlike Roxas' own. Though, personally, Roxas believed his blond hair was a little more controlled. Next to him was a beautiful example of a man, with long silver hair and aquamarine eyes that were a little too deep for Roxas' liking.

The silverette smiled. Roxas was almost dazzled. "Yeah, 'Lette. Manners are manners."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm aware." She swept out her arm again, indicating all the students as she named them. "Roxas, I'd like you to meet Sora, Riku, Demyx, Namine, Zexion, Hayner, and Pence." The blonde muttered a shy "hey" to each of them in turn.

"Are you guys all theatre?" he asked, somewhat boldly.

"Pssh, noo way," scoffed Demyx, a boy with a weird hybrid of a mullet and mohawk sitting atop his head. He jabbed his thumb in his chest and smiled proudly. "I'm in instrumental."

"Art," said Naminé, very quietly.

"Vocal. Like you, dude," Hayner grinned.

"Theatreeee!" Sora sang.

"Art," Zexion said, never looking up from his book.

"Also art," Pence admitted.

"And I'm in instrumental," Riku sighed.

Roxas giggled to himself. "Olette, I thought you said you hung out with a lot of theatre kids. I only see one present."

"Well – " she started, but the girl was cut off by a loud, overdramatic _huff_ from behind her.

"Uh, hullo? Did you forget about me now?" The new voice drawled. "I'm really hurt, 'Lette. How could you forget the ever amazing _me_?" Roxas could practically hear the sneer in the guy's voice.

Olette rolled her eyes. "Roxas," she deadpanned, "this is Axel Rovente." Axel coughed obnoxiously. "Sorry. Roxas, this is the _ever-spectacular-always-sexy-red-hot_ Axel Rovente." The tall man leaned around the short brunette and shot Roxas a smug grin.

"How do you do."

Roxas' eyes widened.

Red hair.

Tattoos.

Green eyes.

"No way," Roxas muttered.

_Seven_ years_, and he_ actually _ends up going here?_

Roxas Sherwood's perfectly ordinary mind was blown in a matter of seconds.

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**A/N: **So, yes, there's the first chapter. More to come.

We promise. :)


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